


Let My Mind Run Underneath Warm Jets

by A_Zucchini



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Explicit Language, F/F, Fluff, Frank Ocean - Freeform, Pining, go crazy go stupid
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2020-02-01
Packaged: 2021-02-24 16:28:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22000975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Zucchini/pseuds/A_Zucchini
Summary: Mina has been last-minute, fuck-my-life panic studying for her anthropology elective for the past two weeks, and she’s about to go ballistic on the idiot who either cannot read or has literally no respect for the library rules.If only that idiot wasn’t so stunning.
Relationships: Hirai Momo/Im Nayeon, Kim Dahyun/Minatozaki Sana, Myoui Mina/Son Chaeyoung
Comments: 15
Kudos: 166





	1. These Bitches Want Nikes

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! This is my first story, for my ult ship Michaeng. All mistakes are mine, and all lyrics in this fic will be from Frank Ocean's amazing LP 'Blonde'.
> 
> If you would like, please follow me on @MichaengsFlex, and let me know how I need to improve at writing! :)
> 
> Rated for naughty swears (for now oooooo)

Mina fucking knew that taking six papers for her second semester was a terrible idea. Hot off the heels of a positively _dynamite_ freshman year, the psychology major in her oh so infinite wisdom decided that she should fast-track her degree and increase her workload by an infinitesimal amount. “How hard could one more first-year level paper be?” Past Mina deliberated with her smug, smarmy confidence.

Hubris was a bitch, it seemed. So was the pain in her back, spiking up to her neck which Mina unceremoniously attempted to crack against the dull burgundy that was her plastic library chair. After sitting in the same spot and chair for an accumulated 30 hours of straight note-taking and memorising, Mina had made her shitty bungalow of a desk into her home.

She had so frequently and consistently staked her claim on the dark corner of the library in the past week that even when she had left her study blanket overnight (which was also coincidentally her sleeping blanket, and her only blanket) on her desk, it hadn’t been moved by the library staff.

So yes, Mina was well aware that outside of the occasional snack run and water refill opportunity that the only world she was intimately familiar with was a library desk. It was a sacrifice that unfortunately her anthropology paper demanded of her, which had Mina known going in was run by an absolute _demon_ of a lecturer would never have taken. Notwithstanding the six (yes, she counted thank you very much) pop quizzes that Ms. Byul had dropped onto the class intermittently throughout the semester, the paper had also outlined in its final exam a frankly absurd amount of revision material.

Pointedly ignoring the fact that if you had asked Mina’s best friend Momo, who had recommended the paper to her (the traitorous bastard), that the workload was just as much as any other introductory paper and that the real fault was Mina for taking so many papers in the first place, the paper was unfairly demanding. Regardless, Mina was here, in the abyss that was 2F of JYP Uni Library, wishing she could somehow osmosis the material into her head.

Momo had only popped by once to check up on her, meekly approaching Mina’s makeshift den in order to offer her a tribute of notes for the class. After being shooed away sternly (“She hissed! Hissed!”), Momo had elected to create some distance from her childhood friend, instead texting her twice a day to make sure that she had indeed eaten for the day. Mina had even snapped at Nayeon, Momo’s long-term girlfriend when she spotted her stomping around the corner holding a take-away bag of chicken.

Look, Mina would have felt terrible about scolding her for being too loud in the library, but it _was_ a silent study area. If Nayeon had really wanted to chat about how ‘Momoring’ had lovingly dedicated her final contemporary dance paper routine to her ‘One & Only Forever’ to the tune of John Legend’s “All of Me”, then she should have done so on the first floor of the library where talking was allowed.

Of course, Mina would uproot the entire building before she left her temporary hovel when the anthropology exam was only four days away. She had made it perfectly clear that the next time somebody tried to move her from her spot while she was engaged in maximum study mode overdrive, that the consequences would be dire. It was fortunate that the older woman be merely chastised by the frazzled student in her frazzled wrath.

Mina turned the page of her well-thumbed workbook. It had been an entire month of exam preparation, study exercises and meditation, and Mina was damned if anything was going to ruin what would be another successful academic year. As much as the other papers had been a relatively engaging set of intellectual challenges (especially the one on intermediate models), this particular paper had eluded Mina’s understanding. She supposed that she just wasn’t suited for the sort of thinking that it demanded, but it was her choice to go for the paper and that was her lot for the half-year.

Today was going well, in any case. Checking the time, Mina rubbed the sorest part of her neck and silently yawned. The past seven hours of study had been relatively fruitful, and she calculated that another three hours of solid memorisation at the same pace would keep her ahead of the workload she had set out for herself. That would give her just enough time to shovel synthetic carbohydrates into her mouth before crashing for the five hours she allocated for sleep, prepping her for the same routine the next day. Mina made a mental note to clean out her apartment once she was finished with exams; the cup noodle bowls were slowly but surely piling up next to her kitchen sink and at this rate might reach the ceiling if unchecked.

Deciding to take a small breather, Mina stood uneasily from her desk and grabbed her penguin water bottle. She glanced briefly around the near-empty space, choosing to make her way to the fountain near the flight of stairs closest to her desk. The corridor was dimly lit but Mina had traversed those grounds in darker circumstances before, when a power cut in the middle of the night rendered the entire library pitch black save for her laptop screen light.

Whilst filling her water bottle Mina began to feel a dull throb on the front of her forehead. Typical. Mina sighed and began to re-evaluate; staying the full three hours would no doubt be beneficial for her study, but the migraine she felt slowly coming might compromise her ability to absorb the ink in her workbook through her forehead. By the time the water bottle had been filled to its brim, Mina had resolutely drawn her eyebrows together, mirroring the thin line of her lips.

There was no helping it, Mina concluded stoically, especially when she _needed_ to get ethnomusicology down fully before retiring for the morning, lest she fall behind. With a heavy heart and her skull feeling like it was about to pop, Mina slowly made her way back to her desk.

Rounding the corner, Mina was just about to sit down when she felt the atmosphere of her abode disturbed slightly. Confused, Mina put down her water bottle and looked around, looking for the disturbance of her area’s feng shui. After a deep, hard look through narrowed eyes, the Japanese stalwart surmised that she was just imagining things. Satisfied, Mina unlocked the laptop screen on her desk, flipped open her workbook and prepared to go to work.

_“These bitches want Nikes_

_They lookin for a check_

_Tell 'em it ain’t likely”_

Just as her designer pen nib grazed the paper she was writing on, Mina heard a faint sound across from her. Glancing up, she received a good look of the usually empty desk sitting across from her.

Somebody was sitting there, and that mysterious stranger was doodling something into a little notepad that was too small for Mina to make out properly. The stranger was a girl, Mina realised, wearing what looked to be an extremely comfortable fluffy hoodie, brimmed baseball hat and quite frankly adorable looking round-framed glasses. She also had stuck her tongue out in what looked to be extreme concentration on her dimple struck face, with enormous, expressive chocolate eyes. Moreover, a small mole jutting from the right side of this woman’s visage captured Mina’s attention, who for some unknown reason had a flashing thought to run her thumb over it as well as her impossibly full bottom lip, which was caught between her teeth.

None of which mattered to Mina, of course. What truly, honestly caught her undivided attention was the fact that this beautiful stranger was wearing Airpods. Which again was of no concern to Mina, if you discounted the fact that those Airpods were blaring music. Which Mina could most definitely hear from across the space between them. In the silent study area.

“What sort of idiot,” Mina thought, “blasts Frank Ocean at one in the morning in the fucking library?”


	2. If I Could See Through Walls, I Could See You're Faking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for reading!

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

Bleary-eyed, Mina slammed the disarm button on her alarm next to her mattress, groaning loudly. Rolling over, she checked the time display, covering her mouth for a yawn she felt deep in her stomach. It was five minutes before seven, which gave Mina plenty of time to prepare her mind before steeling herself for the commute back to the library. That is, if she had actually gotten the five hours sleep that she had planned to take earlier.

At least Mina had somebody to blame for the disturbance in her schedule. Last night, she had spent the rest of her study time working up the courage to inform the stranger across from her that the music she was playing was at a volume not appropriate for a silent study environment. In retrospect, Mina surmised, it probably wasn’t in her best interests to continue stealing glances at her while trying to work her vocal cords into coherent words.

It was only logical that Mina would want to formulate the perfect chastisement for somebody who so blatantly infringed upon her personal space. That was the only explanation as to why when she opened her mouth to let loose a mere _woosh_ of air blew out from between her lips. It definitely wasn’t the way that their eyes met, nor could it possibly be the subsequent drop that Mina felt somewhere in between her ribcage and stomach. And it 100 percent, absolutely, undoubtedly was _not_ because said stranger shot her a cheery grin that wiped the Japanese student’s brain clean.

That opinion would only make sense if Mina was somehow attracted to a person she had never met and possessed the audacity to sit in her designated corner. Which was impossible because Mina was not attracted to this stranger in the slightest. Therefore, either Mina had an intermittent stroke right as she was about to speak, or she had was just reserving her scolding of this stranger until she had found the words to properly run her out of the library for good.

In any case, Mina now needed to hustle even harder to stay on track for her exam. Not only had she been unable to memorise the rest of the chapter, but she had also completely forgotten what she previously studied for that evening. After hastily grabbing her trusty tote bag, Mina began to make her way to the local train station.

It was just when Mina was about to doze off when her phone buzzed in her pocket. Pulling it out and looking at the display, Mina realised that Momo had texted her; “ _want brkfst? nabongie misses u!”_. Resisting the urge to throw up at the nickname (she was on a public train after all), Mina sent a simple text back reminding Momo that she was not in fact finished with her exams, and therefore would not be available before her final exam was done. Mina then sent a slightly more elaborate text informing Momo that although she did miss _nabongie_ and would have liked to catch up, her current university status rendered her unable to reconnect with anybody at present and that any future contact was to be strictly for emergency purposes.

Mina had to bite the inside of her cheek quite hard not to scream when she received Momo’s reply (she was on a public train after all): “ _cool, me and nabongz r coming to uni now, c u den ;) – ur best friend and confidant, Momo”._

Hurrying into her corner in the library, Mina dumped her belongings onto her trusty desk. Her café outing with Momo and Nayeon took the better part of two hours before they would let her leave to get some actual work done, not before half-heartedly promising Momo that she would eat something substantial today (“You’ll study better when you’ve got some food in you!”). She was now unbelievably behind on schedule, and with her final exam looming over her Mina was beginning to dread the workload the next three days would demand of her. She needed to start working immediately and was beyond being able to afford any delays in study. With that in mind, Mina started getting her notepad and laptop ready, steeling herself for the absolute grind awaiting her.

Except when she reached for her pencil case, Mina couldn’t find it lying in her tote bag anywhere. “Fuck,” she thought. There was no helping it, Mina would have to go downstairs and ask for a pen from the reception desk. Walking down the stairs, the flustered student noticed far too quickly that not a single staff member was manning either that desk or the larger information area. Desperate, Mina quickly scanned the surface as a slow sense of dread began to rise within her. Mina despaired as she wondered how the library didn’t have a _single goddamn pen_ for her _goddamn notes_.

Trudging up the stairs, Mina started looking around the for students studying in the area but could only spy those who were making notes through their laptops. Feeling unnaturally jealous of the Amish community, Mina realised sadly that she would have to wait until the staff began milling in the downstairs area before she could begin to study for her exam. Resigned to her fate, Mina made her way back to her corner, feeling dejected and, at this point, quite hungry. It was safe to say she was in a foul mood, and that there wasn’t much that could ruin her day even further.

A few minutes passed as Mina planted herself underneath her blanket, rubbing her temples in an effort to relax. At that moment, Mina felt the presence of another person approaching her corner from behind her, humming good-naturedly to themselves. What was louder than that, however, was a tinny speaker playing a song from the same direction.

“ _If I could see through walls, I could see you're faking_

 _If you could see my thoughts you would see our faces_ ”

Whipping around, Mina very sternly gave the person playing a _fucking song_ through their shitty _phone speaker_ a strong “Excuse me!”. Drawing in a deep breath, Mina prepared herself to go absolutely ballistic on the imbecile who clearly did not understand what the word ‘silent’ in ‘silent study area’ meant. When her eyes caught with her head, Mina’s entire face flushed a deep red, and she choked on thin air.

It was the same stupid moron from last night. Without her baseball hat on, Mina had a good five seconds to gawk at her silky, black hair and her cute ears poking out of her straight cut. Mina unconsciously took another five seconds to reabsorb the rest of her perfect face as well, before jumping into an uncontrollable coughing fit.

“Woah,” the stranger said, her eyebrows expressively bunching together as she placed her hand (??!?!?) on Mina’s back, “are you okay?”. Mina was not okay, would probably never be okay for the rest of her life, and for a second as she was recovering, she swore she saw the visage of death, who placed their bony hand into their skulled head in what suspiciously looked like a facepalm.

“I’m good,” Mina squeaked, “don’t worry about me, wind went down the wrong pipe.” Visibly relieved, the stranger began to rub her hand up and down her back comfortingly. Mina promptly fell into an even harder coughing fit and leapt away from the stranger.

“Um,” Mina started, wildly trying to remember what she was going to say beforehand, “Excuse me!”. ( _The song! Tell her to stop playing fucking Frank Ocean!_ )

Laughing (oh God, Mina felt that weird pressure again), the stranger replied, “What’s up?”

“W-what song are you playing? It’s very nice!”

“ _Oh, for fucks sake_.” Mina thought.


	3. If The Sky Is Pink & White, If The Ground Is Black & Yellow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry!!!! I have been away for the past month visiting family in Australia, and have d e a d a s s not been in any mental state to be writing this for a good while. But she is BACK in NZ now, ready to write!!! Do NOT call it a comeback haha.
> 
> As always, thank you for reading!

It was two days until D-Day. Mina was slowly, but surely losing her mind. If there were moments when she truly doubted the existence of her sanity, this was concrete proof that every single last synapse in her brain had popped. For the entirety of the day before Mina was, quite frankly, stuck in hell.

“I knew I shouldn’t have been mean to Nayeon,” Mina cursed silently, staring back at her haggard reflection in her bathroom mirror. It was all because of that _Son Chaeyoung_ distracting her from what could potentially make or break her near perfect GPA that had the student flustered.

“Son Chaeyoung,” Mina said aloud, testing the name as it left her mouth. “Son Chaeyoung, Son Chaeyoung.” Mina would rather eat her exam notes than admit that the name sounded pretty, but from the perspective of an objective party it was undoubtedly a cute name. Fuck. Mina was getting distracted again, for no good reason. She had been contemplating her mystery deskcrasher for the past hour in the aftermath of her morning routine.

“Focus, Mina,” she sternly reminded herself, “linguistic anthropology is the study of language in its social and cultural context.” She plainly refused to let some inconsiderate individual ruin her chances of nailing her anthropology exam. Mina had plenty strong resolve, determination and discipline to get over minor setbacks like some random girl barging in her study time.

Flicking through her texts, Mina noticed a couple from Momo that had been sent whilst she was asleep: “ _did u get enough done for ur exam? i believe in u!! - momo_ ”. Mina typed out a standard, non-committal reply, but something inexplicable stopped her from hitting send. She knew that Momo was worried about her and was sending her support without wanting to be overbearing, and for no reason at all (definitely not guilt, no ma’am) Mina instead sent her an answer detailing her new problem.

Almost immediately, Mina received an answer from Momo, “ _realz? she sounds like kind of an ass, have you asked her to move?_ ”. Instinctively, Mina groaned. She _knew_ Momo wouldn’t get it – she had spent the six hours she was around Son Chaeyoung trying to explain why she needed her alone time, with no avail. Mina’s answer was curt, and brief: “ _Momo, she does not seem like the type to listen to my requests_. _I may have to find an alternative way around this predicament_ , _unfortunately_.”

As Mina put on her coat to leave for what was likely to be another fruitless attempt to get some study done, her phone dinged with Momo’s reply. Taking a glance at it, Mina suddenly stopped in her tracks.

“ _y dont you just study somewhere else?_ ”

It was a solid point. Mina would even call it sensible. Well, shit. Momo had got her there; what was really keeping her from just staying at home? She preferred the warm inside of her apartment anyway.

But Mina was already dressed to go out. And it would be a waste if she took all that time to get ready to end up not going anywhere. Besides, if she didn’t turn up, she wouldn’t see Son Chaeyoung. Which might mean that Son Chaeyoung might take that as some sort of victory. The past two days had proven to Mina that she needed to _win_. Winning what exactly was irrelevant; what was important was that Myoui Mina was going to see Son Chaeyoung at the library. Satisfied, Mina cheerfully replied, “ _No it’s fine. I have it under control,_ ” and skipped out towards her train station.

Mina was partially correct. She definitely was looking at one Son Chaeyoung, but fine? Under control? She was beginning to think she may have overestimated herself as she sat down next to the already seated distraction.

“Oh, you came back, Mina,” Son Chaeyoung beamed, “I was starting to think you wouldn’t turn up!” (Mina might have promised that she would be back in the library).

“Of course,” Mina smiled, “and I had a quick listen to the artists that you recommended me yesterday, some of them are really interesting.” (Mina might have found another reason she couldn’t sleep).

“Did you?” Son Chaeyoung queried, her dimples deepening even further at the admission, “I’m glad you liked them! And I definitely remembered, I’ve brought some of my own stuff today. Thank you for offering to critique me, if that’s still on the table.” Son Chaeyoung finished shyly. (Mina might have promised to listen to Son Chaeyoung’s multiple mixtapes and DJ sets).

“No of course, I’d love to,” Mina gushed, “it isn’t like I’m doing anything important anyway.” (Mina might have completely and utterly fucked herself).

Four hours later, Chaeyoung (they were on a tentative first name basis now) excused herself for a phone call, leaving Mina in what was likely her most checked out state since she started studying for the stupid fucking anthropology exam. Quickly slapping her face a few times, Mina took stock of her current situation. She had listened to Chaeyoung’s entire discography twice, her eardrums probably had good grounds to sue for physical assault and to top it all off, Mina had not spent a single microsecond looking at her exam notes. It still hadn’t even left her bloody bag, sitting like an anchor dragging down her grades.

What was even worse was that Mina could, on a spiritual level, feel her grasp on reality degrading as she spent time with Chaeyounggie (Mina had lied, they were actually on a cute nickname basis). Somehow, Mina could feel herself simultaneously exasperated and entranced by Chaeng’s mile-a-minute, scatter-brained talking. It was like being a sponge floating in the ocean, aware of its own existence but being unable to process the crush of water, that unbearable pressure. Or some shit like that; so far Mina’s only truly coherent thought revolved around her (???) Chaeyoung’s disarming laugh, and how to invoke it.

Mina spotted Chaeyoung returning as she slowly returned to Earth. More accurately, she heard her before she even turned the corner, laughter intermingling with an unfamiliar voice. Chaeyoung was talking to another girl as they approached Mina; she managed to catch the tail end of a conversation regarding an early finishing of a work shift.

“Hey Mina!” Chaeyoung smiled, “is it okay if my friend Dahyun chills with us for a bit? She’s just waiting to get picked up by her girlfriend.”

“Course,” Mina easily replied, “the more the merrier.”

 _‘Fuck,_ ’ Mina thought, ‘ _Mina, do you actually have worms for brains?_ ’

The regret that Mina held intensified as Dahyun shot her a toothy grin, her nose scrunching against her bleach-blond locks. “Hi Mina, I’m Kim Dahyun! Sana’s not too far away, I’ll try not to intrude! I’m just here to say hey quickly to Chaeng (excuse me, that was _Mina’s_ nickname).”

Mina sighed internally. At this point she might as well not have bothered to bring her notes after all. All she hoped was that the combination of the two girls wouldn’t cause too much of a disturbance, especially since they were still on the silent study floor. It was a pipe dream, but surely Mina deserved some good luck at this point.

_“Every time we've no control_

_If the sky is pink and white_

_If the ground is black and yellow”_

Two minutes later, Mina’s head made contact with the table. It was unthinkable, inconceivable and positively outrageous. Chaeng and Kim Dahyun were jamming out (‘ _how do you have a jam session to Blonde?_ ’), shouting half-correct lyrics while a small red speaker blasted music at a decibel level comparable to a jet plane fitted with military-grade fireworks taking off next to an erupting volcano.

 _‘Maybe_ ,’ thought Mina, ‘ _it was a mistake to even be born_.’


End file.
